In response to the tragic murders at Charleston’s “Mother Emanuel” A.M.E. Church by a Confederate flag-waving white supremacist, the Southern Poverty Law Center is launching a campaign to identify and erase government-sanctioned symbols of the Confederacy across the country.
While many flags and other symbols are being taken down across the country, incredibly, many Southern states still honor Confederate “heroes” with paid holidays, and Confederate flags still fly in many public places and are emblazoned on city and state seals.
In fact, there are still statues, buildings and even a state park honoring Nathan Bedford Forrest, the Confederate general who led a massacre of black Union soldiers and later led the Ku Klux Klan.
“The Confederate flag doesn’t just represent Southern ‘heritage,’ it’s a deeply divisive symbol used by racist groups, one what was raised above state capitols in the Deep South during the civil rights movement to show that they stood for white supremacy,” said SPLC Founder Morris Dees. “There’s no place for this or other symbols of the Confederacy in our public spaces.”
The SPLC is creating an interactive, online map of sites throughout the United States that honor the Confederacy or its leaders – people such as Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and Nathan Bedford Forrest.
To help us, please use our online form below to send the Confederate names and symbols on public property in your town, and send us a photograph if possible.
We’re looking for Confederate statues or monuments; flags; government seals; patches on government uniforms; the names of parks, streets, schools, military bases or counties; school mascots; and other examples.
As part of the “Erasing Hate” campaign, we’re also preparing a community action guide to help local communities reach consensus on removing publicly supported symbols that represent the slave-holding South.
SPLC launches ‘Erasing Hate’ campaign
While many flags and other symbols are being taken down across the country, incredibly, many Southern states still honor Confederate “heroes” with paid holidays, and Confederate flags still fly in many public places and are emblazoned on city and state seals.
In fact, there are still statues, buildings and even a state park honoring Nathan Bedford Forrest, the Confederate general who led a massacre of black Union soldiers and later led the Ku Klux Klan.
“The Confederate flag doesn’t just represent Southern ‘heritage,’ it’s a deeply divisive symbol used by racist groups, one what was raised above state capitols in the Deep South during the civil rights movement to show that they stood for white supremacy,” said SPLC Founder Morris Dees. “There’s no place for this or other symbols of the Confederacy in our public spaces.”
The SPLC is creating an interactive, online map of sites throughout the United States that honor the Confederacy or its leaders – people such as Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and Nathan Bedford Forrest.
To help us, please use our online form below to send the Confederate names and symbols on public property in your town, and send us a photograph if possible.
We’re looking for Confederate statues or monuments; flags; government seals; patches on government uniforms; the names of parks, streets, schools, military bases or counties; school mascots; and other examples.
As part of the “Erasing Hate” campaign, we’re also preparing a community action guide to help local communities reach consensus on removing publicly supported symbols that represent the slave-holding South.
SPLC launches ‘Erasing Hate’ campaign